Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I haven’t watched major market prime time television series since I was a kid. The only thing I can think of that I made a point of watching as an adult was Star Trek Next Generation.
With streaming, we have better control over what we watch and we’re not flooded with advertising. The Mandalorian. We worked through The Sopranos. Schitt’s Creek. Swedish Wallender crime fiction. The Brokenwood Mysteries New Zealand crime fiction. Mare of Easttown. I’m working my way through 12 years of Doctor Who now. Before streaming, I only watched movies as DVD, Blu Ray, and premium cable without advertising for decades. I have no tolerance for an hour of prime time network programming with 20 minutes of advertising in it. I’ve mostly stopped watching sports other than English Premier League where there are no commercials. I abandoned my MLB team. I’ve watched one game on Amazon Prime for the season. I abandoned my NBA team. My NFL team is the only one I watch regularly and all the commercial breaks are turning me off.
I like series. Anything that looks like it might be interesting goes on the DVR and then gets dumped onto DVD. I have a stack, well, two stacks actually, of recorders hooked to an antenna. I don't have the time to watch everything right now, but, someday I will, and I'll get to it then.
What bugs me, is when a good series gets cancelled...and some stinker of a show goes on and on, when it should have had the plug pulled long before...
Is anyone else out there not a big fan of TV series (shows with multiple episodes and multiple season) as compared to "one-offs" where it is just one episode, like a documentary or movie?
When I was a kid I loved watching a lot of series like A-team, Greatest American Hero, and all other 80's classics.
As I got older, I guess I had less patience to sit through multiple episodes. If a series is really compelling, then I'll watch the whole thing. Like The Walking Dead for example, I watched the first three seasons in a matter of days. Or Mindhunter. It does help that many series are on streaming services so you could watch entire seasons.
But these days, on Netflix or Amazon, I only watch movies or documentaries. I skip anything that shows it being a series. Some documentaries have multiple episodes, usually around 3-4, and I'm okay with that.
They churn them out.
They leave them running longer than they should (like the walking dead after the first few seasons).
Or they cut them too short.
I usually leave them on in the background. Once in awhile I find one I want to actually watch and I'll sit down and watch.
Good: The plot-driven miniseries with a well-defined arc that is allowed to end. Think "Night Manager". Great television. Or the procedural with interesting characters - think "Dr. House".
Bad: The season-to-season series that isn't allowed to end as long as it can hold on to a minimum of viewers. "Lost" was an egregious example of this - it was supposed to be plot-driven, but gave up on any internal logic. Massive disappointment.
Or the procedural that is allowed to run on and on, with increasingly formulaic plotlines.
I like series. Anything that looks like it might be interesting goes on the DVR and then gets dumped onto DVD. I have a stack, well, two stacks actually, of recorders hooked to an antenna. I don't have the time to watch everything right now, but, someday I will, and I'll get to it then.
What bugs me, is when a good series gets cancelled...and some stinker of a show goes on and on, when it should have had the plug pulled long before...
That's me......sort of or was me, once upon a time.
Long story short, last year or so, I was going through a stack of VHS cabinets and came to the conclusion that I could get rid of most of them for they had been bypassed, I had bought the series in DVD (or in VHS and made DVD working copies). Of course, one of the things that helped the decision was that what was on the tape had been from syndication which meant that it had been, most likely, ruthlessly edited.
Now, it hasn't been with all of them because they haven't been available on DVD, like Reasonable Doubts and Empty Nest, but I have been willing to let those go for reasons such as I haven't ever gone back to those tapes (and the conversion equipment is now precious), they aren't available in DVD, and some like Empty Nest had its best years with Kristi McNichol, its mediocre years with when the NBC Saturday night line up was disintigrating, and its worst years in the last of the series.
Of course, that happens, one way or another, often, in that the format of the show changes such as Empty Nest, Quincy, Nurses, and Buffy as examples. When they do, I have learned to take it that they ended at some part and went off to live happily ever after in some other universe. Admittedly, though, that state of being is in constant battle with more, More, MORE!
Back to the DVDs. I am terrifically driven by conscience so if I have it in broadcast storage, such as Kindred: The Embrace, I'll try to get it in a proper consumer copy. Not everything, mind you, for some stuff is out there in storage that can be justified under academic research.
Finally, "anything that looks like it might be interesting" can be a hazardous approach to things. It is how I grab DVD movies in the $ Store because, after all, it is just a $ and it doesn't take up much room.....but after so many, things are getting tight. It's why the book library is aching for shelf space (but that's another story). When it is just a buck or less, when it looks like it might, it might take us down the path of what do we do with it.
Is there an alternate way? Sure, if one has a library or some way of sampling.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dane_in_LA
It's an entire genre, with good and bad examples.
Good: The plot-driven miniseries with a well-defined arc that is allowed to end. Think "Night Manager". Great television. Or the procedural with interesting characters - think "Dr. House".
Bad: The season-to-season series that isn't allowed to end as long as it can hold on to a minimum of viewers. "Lost" was an egregious example of this - it was supposed to be plot-driven, but gave up on any internal logic. Massive disappointment.
Or the procedural that is allowed to run on and on, with increasingly formulaic plotlines.
Depends on the Eye of the Beholder. Personally, House did not excite me. As far as Lost goes, I only saw one episode and that was as part of polite company. Further, looking at the TV schedule for its first 4 years, it looks like that I wasn't watching anything on Wednesday night at all. I must have been out in the real world doing something.
That's one thing about TV. I come across shows years after their run and I wonder, I ask, where was I? With something like Picket Fences or China Beach, I was either watching something else (the VCR was watching it) so I never saw it, or I was involved with life. Of course, another thing might have been that at that time in my life, I might have just not been interested.
Last edited by TamaraSavannah; 09-07-2021 at 04:16 PM..
These days network television is terrible. It's silly reality shows, game shows (I'll exclude Jeopardy here) or mundane sitcoms with an improbable premise. Even the morning "news" shows are hard to watch. Many of them have an obvious social agenda. And, I may agree--to a certain extent--with that agenda, but I don't need it continuously shoved down my throat in the name of entertainment or news.
I do find several good shows to stream on Netflix and occasionally something on Amazon Prime. Recent favorites on Netflix: The Chair, Workin' Moms, Kim's Convenience, Doctor Foster, and the just released On the Verge as well as The Eddy. On Amazon Great British Menu is a good watch for those who like food shows and Modern Love isn't bad. Amazon Prime has an overabundance of shows for those young enough to think sex is always interesting. But, it's my goto when I want to rent an award winning movie or a series that sounds good to me.
I also love The Good Fight, Billions and a few others for which I will temporarily subscribe to the appropriate streaming service when a new season is available.
These days network television is terrible. It's silly reality shows, game shows (I'll exclude Jeopardy here) or mundane sitcoms with an improbable premise. Even the morning "news" shows are hard to watch. Many of them have an obvious social agenda. And, I may agree--to a certain extent--with that agenda, but I don't need it continuously shoved down my throat in the name of entertainment or news.
The reason why I loved Levante/Un Nuevo Dia (Telemundo) was that they looked like they were having so much fun!......and I had no clue to what they were saying.
That and when they had the news segment on, it was actually news. It wasn't some feel good with smiles or total focus of who died, but actual news. Through the closed captions, I could figure out enough of the Spanish to then search for the story on the Net if I wanted to.
As far as what's on TV "now", I feel like they took all the beautiful extras off of Star Trek (or their current equivalent) and made TV shows with them, depending on looks only.
Depends on the Eye of the Beholder. Personally, House did not excite me. As far as Lost goes, I only saw one episode and that was as part of polite company.
There's taste to take into account, of course. But House had a certain quality in the acting and execution that raised it above the mediocre. I didn't much care for Breaking Bad, but I'll happily concede it was well done. Whereas Lost - if you'll pardon the expression - lost its way about one season in.
There's taste to take into account, of course. But House had a certain quality in the acting and execution that raised it above the mediocre. I didn't much care for Breaking Bad, but I'll happily concede it was well done. Whereas Lost - if you'll pardon the expression - lost its way about one season in.
The problem with shows like Breaking Bad, Dexter, and others is that they conflict with my raising; not to watch shows that glorify crime. That the ends doesn't justify the means (ie, The Shield). Now, admittedly, this does put me at a paradox for my Mother loved Weeds.
As far as House goes, well, that's like CSI, Fringe, and even Quincy.......if money was no object.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
